Search Climate Insights Directory

The Centre for Environmental Rights, on behalf of MACUA and MEJCON-SA and jointly with Natural Justice, submitted formal objections to the Motuoane Exploration Right 386 application. The submission argues that the project's scoping report is deficient in its assessment of climate change, air quality, and groundwater impacts, and that the public participation process was exclusionary and legally inadequate.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), on behalf of Earthlife Africa and groundWork, submitted formal objections on 14 June 2022 to the Integrated Water Use Licence Application (IWULA) for Phase 2A of the Mokolo Crocodile River (West) Water Augmentation Project (MCWAP-2A). The CER argues that the project is an unnecessary inter-basin transfer designed to support coal expansion, which contradicts South Africa's climate commitments and poses severe risks to aquatic ecosystems and local communities.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, acting for groundWork, submitted a formal objection on 18 June 2021 to the Water Use Licence (WUL) application for the Nseleni Independent Floating Power Plant (NIFPP) at the Port of Richards Bay. The objection argues that the 12-page application is 'woefully deficient and incomplete,' failing to provide necessary data on water resource impacts, climate change, and the full scope of associated infrastructure to allow for an informed decision.

This document contains legal submissions by a coalition of eight environmental organisations, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights, appealing a decision by the Gert Sibande District Joint Municipal Planning Tribunal. The appeal seeks to revoke the approval of a land-use change application by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to enable the construction of the Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine on Portion 1 of the farm Yzermyn 96 HT, arguing that the decision is unlawful, environmentally catastrophic, and contrary to national water security interests.

This document is a formal appeal submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of Earthlife Africa and groundWork to the Minister of Environmental Affairs. The appeal seeks to set aside an Environmental Authorisation granted on 15 March 2019 to the Department of Water and Sanitation for Phase 2A of the Mokolo and Crocodile River (West) Augmentation Project (MCWAP-2A). The appellants argue that the project is unnecessary, environmentally damaging, and based on outdated energy demand assumptions.

This document is a formal objection submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of a coalition of eight civil society and community non-profit organisations. The objection opposes an application by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to change the land use of Portion 1 of the Farm Yzermyn 96 in Mpumalanga from agricultural to mining purposes to facilitate the construction of the proposed Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine.

This document is a formal objection submitted by the Centre for Environmental Rights on behalf of a coalition of eight civil society and community non-profit organisations. The objection opposes an application by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to change the land use of Portion 1 of the Farm Yzermyn 96 in Mpumalanga from agricultural to mining purposes to facilitate the construction of the Yzermyn Underground Coal Mine. The objectors argue that the project would cause irreparable harm to a strategic water source area, threaten biodiversity in the Mabola Protected Environment, and negatively impact vulnerable local communities, while failing to comply with municipal spatial development frameworks and national interest requirements under the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA).

The review concludes that the specialist reports for the Yzermyn underground coal mine are insufficient, failing to identify all environmental impacts and the interconnection between hydrogeology, hydrology, and wetlands. Consequently, the issued IWUL lacks sufficient conditions to mitigate impacts to an acceptable standard. Key failures include a low-confidence groundwater model (Class 1) that cannot quantify seasonal variations, a lack of field-based wetland delineation for the underground mining area, and the absence of a post-closure water treatment cost analysis. The report highlights that mine dewatering will likely cause significant drawdown in shallow and deep aquifers, potentially drying up high-value wetlands and springs, while post-closure acid mine drainage (AMD) and contaminant plumes remain unsimulated and unquantified.

This document is a legal submission by groundWork, represented by the Centre for Environmental Rights, appealing to the Minister of Environmental Affairs to extend the deadline for filing an appeal against the environmental authorisation of the ACWA Power Khanyisa Thermal Power Station. The appellant argues that the authorisation is unlawful because it lacked a comprehensive climate change impact assessment, a requirement recently affirmed by the High Court in the Thabametsi judgment.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE), submitted representations to the Minister of Water and Sanitation on 2 March 2017. The document argues against a petition by Atha-Africa Ventures (Pty) Ltd to uplift the suspension of a water-use licence (WUL) for the proposed Yzermyn underground coal mine, asserting that the suspension should remain until the Water Tribunal resolves the pending appeal.

The Centre for Environmental Rights, acting for Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, submitted formal objections on 20 January 2017 to the Integrated Water Use Licence Application (IWULA) for the proposed 1200MW coal-fired Thabametsi power station near Lephalale, Limpopo. The submission argues that the application is fatally flawed due to outdated data, failure to account for climate change, risks to groundwater and wetlands, and a lack of guaranteed water availability for the project's 40-year lifespan.

The Mpumalanga Protected Area Expansion Strategy sets a 20-year target to protect 6,320 km² of land by 2028, with a primary focus on the Grassland Biome. The document also contains a series of legal objections from the Centre for Environmental Rights and a coalition of NGOs against a proposed underground coal mine by Atha-Africa Ventures on the Yzermyn farm. Objectors argue the mine would cause irreparable harm to the Mabola Protected Environment, a strategic water source area, through aquifer dewatering and acid mine drainage, and that the application process violated the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA).

The document presents evidence of the existence and vulnerability of the Cacataibo people in voluntary isolation in the Ucayali region of Peru. It combines numerous eyewitness testimonies of sightings and footprints with expert analysis on the risks posed by seismic exploration in 'Lote 107', arguing that such activities threaten the health, food security, and physical survival of these isolated groups.

This document consists of several annexures related to two proposed coal mining projects in Mpumalanga, South Africa: the Lusthof Colliery and the WPB Colliery. The first part is a draft report from 2012 by Dr. Hugo van Zyl for Black Gold Coal Estates (BGCE) regarding the financial provisioning for a Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment Plant (WTP) at Lusthof Colliery, estimating a required provision of approximately R74.42 million to cover construction and 100 years of post-closure operation. The second part contains correspondence and reviews from 2013 to 2015 regarding the WPB Colliery, featuring objections from BirdLife South Africa and technical reviews by Golder Associates. These reviews highlight 'fatal flaws' in the WPB Colliery's water use license application, specifically the lack of adequate acid mine drainage (AMD) assessment, insufficient public participation, and flawed geochemical modelling for pollution mitigation.

This document is a responding statement submitted by Newshelf 1282 (Pty) Ltd (the Second Respondent) on behalf of the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) and Earthlife Africa, Johannesburg (the Appellant). It addresses an appeal against the environmental authorisation (EA) granted by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) for the construction of the 1200MW coal-fired Thabametsi power station.

The Mining and Environmental Justice Community Network of South Africa (MEJCON-SA) and Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) have appealed a decision by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) to grant environmental authorisation (EA) to Tetra4 (Pty) Ltd for the Cluster 2 Virginia Gas Production Project. The appellants argue that the decision is unlawful and unreasonable due to flawed groundwater and climate change assessments, inadequate public participation, a failure to consider renewable energy alternatives, and the state's lack of capacity to monitor gas operations.